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RATIONING IN BRITAIN WWII

During World War II all sorts of essential and non-essential foods were

rationed, as well as clothing, furniture and petrol.

W h y w a s r a t i o n i n g i n t r o d u c e d ?

To make the British weak, the Germans tried to cut off supplies of food

and other goods. German submarines attacked many of the ships that

brought food to Britain.

Before the war, Britain imported 55 million tons of food, a month after

the war had started this figure had dropped to 12 million.

The Ration Book became the key to survival for nearly every

household in Britain. Every member of the public was issued with a

ration book.

Ration Books

W h a t w e r e r a t i o n b o o k s ?

They were books which contained coupons that shopkeepers cut out or

signed when people bought food and other items. (People still paid for

the goods with money.)

W h y w e r e t h e r e d i f f e r e n t c o l o u r r a t i o n b o o k s ?

'The colour of your ration book was very important as it made sure yougo the right amount and types of food needed for your health.

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Buff-coloured ration books - Most adults had this colour

Green ration books - Pregnant women, nursing mothers and children

under 5. They had first choice of fruit, a daily pint of milk and a double

supply of eggs.

Blue ration books - Children between 5 and 16 years of age. It was

felt important that children had fruit, the full meat ration and half a pint

of milk a day.

W h y d i d t h e g o v e r n m e n t i s s u e r a t i o n b o o k s ?

To make sure that everybody got a fair share of the food available.

The government was worried that as food and other items became

scarcer, prices would rise and poorer people might not be able to affordthings. There was also a danger that some people might hoard items,

leaving none for others.

Rationing was introduced to make sure that everyone had a fair share of

the items that were hard to get hold of during the war.

W h e n w a s r a t i o n i n g i n t r o d u c e d ?

Rationing was introduced at the beginning of 1940.

National Registration Day

On National Registration Day on 29 September 1939, every householder

had to fill in a form giving details of the people who lived in their house.

H o w d i d r a t i o n i n g w o r k ?

Using the information gathered on National Registration Day, the

government issued every one with an identity card and ration book.

Register with local shops

Each family or individual had to register with a local supplier from whom

the ration would be bought. These details were stamped in the book and

you could only buy your ration from that supplier.

Coupons

The books contained coupons that had to be handed to or signed by the

shopkeeper every time rationed goods were bought. This meant that

people could only buy the amount they were allowed.

W a s r a t i o n i n g f a i r ?

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Some people considered food rationing to be very unfair. Eggs, butter

and meat could be obtained fairly easily without coupons in rural areas.

By the summer of 1941 greengrocers in the towns were taking their

lorries into the country to buy vegetables direct from growers.

W h e n d i d f o o d r a t i o n i n g s t o p ?

Fourteen years of food rationing in Britain ended at midnight on 4 July

1954, when restrictions on the sale and purchase of meat and bacon

were lifted. This happened nine years after the end of the war.

Rationing experience from one of the visitors to ourwebsite

"I lived in Godalming & London during WW2. I was 12 at thestart, 18 at its end (an apprentice in an aircraft factory).

Eating outOne point that your pages on rationing did not bring out was,that in most families at least one person was working &consequently relieved the ration situation at home by eating out.I for example had a lunch in the works canteen and a sandwichwith tea at the two other breaks during the day.

Even classified as a "Boy" I was working54 hours a week anddid evening classes on three nights (having supper at the 'techcanteen).

Another member of my family was a shop assistant during thisperiod. Because of the shortage of staff, her lunch break was tooshort to go home so she eat at a restaurant (Often Lyons, whereWelsh Rabbit (cheese on toast) cost 4d or a hot meat pie 7d).

Many schools also had school dinners.

All in all, many families really had double the official rationbecause they ate at their place of work."

W h y w a s f o o d r a t i o n e d i n B r i t a i n i n W o r l d W a r

I I ?

Before the Second World War started Britain imported about 55 million

tons of food a year from other countries. After war was declared in

September 1939, the British government had to cut down on theamount of food it brought in from abroad as German submarines started

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attacking British supply ships. There was a worry that this would lead to

shortages of food supplies in the shops so the British government

decided to introduce a system of rationing.

Rationing made sure that people got an equal amount of food every

week. The government was worried that as food became scarcer, prices

would rise and poorer people might not be able to afford to eat. There

was also a danger that some people might hoard food, leaving none for

others.

Ration books - notice the dates

These ration books were issued to Doris and Montague Corri.

H o w l o n g w a s f o o d r a t i o n e d f o r ?

Rationing of food lasted for 14 years and ended on July 4, 1954.

H o w d i d f o o d r a t i o n i n g w o r k ?

Every person in Britain was given a ration book. They had to register

and buy their food from their chosen shops. There were no

supermarkets, so people had to visit several different shops to buy

meat, vegetables, bread and other goods.

When people wanted to buy some food, the items they bought were

crossed off in their ration book by the shopkeeper.

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Page inside a ration book

W h a t w e r e t h e f i r s t f o o d i t e m s t o b e r a t i o n e d ?

On 8 January 1940, bacon, butter and sugar were rationed.

W h a t o t h e r f o o d i t e m s w e r e r a t i o n e d ?

Many different foods were added to the food ration list during the war.

These included:

meat (Mar 1940) jam (Mar 1941) biscuits ( Aug

1942),

fish tea (Jul 1940) breakfast cereals,

cheese (May 1941) eggs (June 1941) milk,

tinned tomatoes (Feb.

1942)

peas (Feb. 1942) dried fruit Jan 1942

rice (Jan 1942) canned fruit, cooking fat (Jul

1940)

Some foods such as potatoes, fruit and fish were not rationed.

H o w m u c h f o o d w a s o n e p e r s o n a l l o w e d t o b u y

p e r w e e k d u r i n g t h e w a r ?

The weekly ration varied from month to month as foods became more

or less plentiful.

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A typical ration for one adult per week was:

Butter: 50g

(2oz)

Bacon and ham: 100g

(4oz)

Margarine: 100g (4oz)

Sugar: 225g

(8oz).

Meat: To the value of

1s.2d (one shilling and

sixpence per week. That

is about 6p today)

Milk: 3 pints (1800ml)

occasionally dropping

to 2 pints (1200ml).

Cheese: 2oz

(50g)

Eggs: 1 fresh egg a

week.

Tea: 50g (2oz).

Jam: 450g

(1lb) every

two months.

Dried eggs 1 packet

every four weeks.

Sweets: 350g (12oz)

every four weeks

A weeks supply of rationed food for an adult

In addition to the above food, everyone was allowed 16 points per

month to use on what ever food items they wished.

H o w d i d t h e g o v e r n m e n t m a k e s u r e p e o p l e h a d

e n o u g h f o o d ?

People were encouraged to provide their own food at home. The 'Dig for

Victory' campaign started in October 1939 and called for every man and

woman to keep an allotment. Lawns and flower-beds were turned into

vegetable gardens. Chickens, rabbits, goats and pigs were reared intown parks and gardens.

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/moneyold.htmhttp://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/moneyold.htm

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D e - R a t i o n i n g

Food rationing lasted for 14 years in Britain, from 1940 until 1954.

Rationing continued even after the war ended:

Meat rationing continued for 10 years after D-Day (June 1954)

In 1946, when food was just as short as during the preceding years,

bread was added to the ration and the sweet ration was halved.

C l o t h e s R a t i o n i n g

It wasn't just food that was rationed during World War II.

Clothing also became scarce.

Clothes rationing began on June 1, 1941, two years after food

rationing started. Clothes rationing ended on 15 March 1949.

Clothing ration book - Can you spot the two books for children?

W h y w e r e c l o t h e s r a t i o n e d d u r i n g t h e w a r ?

There was a shortage of materials to make clothes.

People were also urged to "Make do and mend" so that clothing

factories and workers could be used to make items, such as parachutes

and uniforms, needed in the battle against Germany.

H o w d i d p e o p l e b u y c l o t h e s w h e n t h e y w e r e

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/war/campaigns.htmhttp://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/war/campaigns.htm

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r a t i o n e d ?

Everyone was given a Clothing Book with coloured coupons in it. Every

item of clothing was given a value in coupons. To buy clothes people

handed over their Clothing Book to the shopkeeper. who cut out one of

the coupons. They then handed over money to the shopkeeper to pay

for the clothes.

Clothing coupons

The coupon system allowed people to buy one completely new set of

clothes once a year.

W h e r e d i d p e o p l e g e t t h e i r c l o t h e s c o u p o n s

f r o m ?

The government gave every person a clothes ration book full of

coupons.

W h y w e r e t h e r e d i f f e r e n t c o l o u r c o u p o n s ?

Each page of coupons was a different colour to stop people using up all

their coupons at once. People were only allowed to use one colour at a

time. The government would tell people when they could start using a

new colour.

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Coupons from one colour could be saved and used with the next colour.

H o w m a n y c l o t h i n g c o u p o n s c o u l d e a c h p e r s o n

u s e ?

Each person was given 60 coupons to last them a year. Later it was

reduced to 48 coupons.

Children were allocated an extra 10 clothing coupons above the

standard ration to allow for growing out of clothes during a year.

C l o t h e s C o u p o n s

The two images below show how many coupons you would need to buy

different items of clothing.

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TASKS

Look carefully at the rations allowed to a typical person in one week. Then work out a

menu of 3 meals per day using the food available for at least 4 days.

TO FIND OUT - -

The booklet gives one main reason why rationing was introduced by the British

government. Find out at least 2 other reasons why rationing was introduced and also write

down where you got the information from.

NOTES

Make your own brief notes on Factsheet 4 using the following headings - -

(A)THE PROBLEM

Food shortages

The U boat threat

(B)THE GOVERNMENT ACTS

Emergency Powers Act

Ploughing up campaign

Dig for Victory

The Allotment movement

Rationing

AND the results of my investigation